Media Go
Encyclopedia
Media Go is a video
and audio
player developed by Sony Creative Software
, announced at E3 2009 for Microsoft Windows
. Media Go manages content on Sony
family products such as Sony Ericsson
cellular (mobile) telephones and the PlayStation Portable
; it can also playback multimedia content, serving a function similar to that of Apple's iTunes
. Media Go can access the PlayStation Store, Sony Ericsson's PlayNow
Arena and in some cases, third-party online stores (such as BigPond Music, for Telstra
customers), while serving as a replacement for the Sony Creative Software "Media Manager
" applications, used by the PlayStation Portable, Sony Ericsson and Walkman products in the past.
metadata
, and support for track ratings and purchases that can be made from the PlayStation Store
, Sony Ericsson
's PlayNow
Arena or select partner stores (such as BigPond Music, for Telstra
customers). Where applicable, Media Go will also automatically download and/or convert certain content (e.g. a podcast) into a suitable format. Media Go can also purchase, backup, and restore PlayStation Portable
(PSP) games and other content, including digital comics; the ability to shop for and purchase PSP content from the PlayStation Store without a PSP connected to the host computer
is now supported in current versions of Media Go.
Like most similar products, Media Go is also able to "rip" music from a CD and automatically download missing metadata
(album artwork in particular) via Gracenote
. , Media Go cannot "rip" video from a commercial DVD
or BD
. Media Go also provides "drag from" behaviour: most multimedia files that are displayed can be dragged from the Media Go application to a Windows Explorer
folder, an e-mail
message or browser drop target. Like most competing programs though, one of Media Go's primary functions is as a computer
multimedia organizer and player/jukebox, with a choice of large or compact/mini interface modes; Media Go also acts as a fully functional picture manager, similar to Microsoft
's Windows Media Player
.
While not supported officially, Media Go can also be used to manage media on many third-party devices including most cellular (mobile) telephones and USB-based multimedia playback devices - as third-party devices are not supported officially however, some content (such as videos) may not convert to a suitable format.
cellular (mobile) telephone models of the time.
Version 1.1, released on June 2, 2009, added support for, and worked with all PlayStation Portable
(PSP) models. New to Media Go was also the ability to integrate with Sony Computer Entertainment's
PlayStation Store, Sony Ericsson's PlayNow
Arena and in some cases, third-party stores (such as BigPond Music, for Telstra
customers); the content and any supported third-party stores varies from country-to-country, however.
Version 1.1a, released on July 29, 2009, included several bug and stability fixes.
Version 1.2, released on October 1, 2009, added support for the PSP Go
and additional Sony Ericsson cellular (mobile) telephone models, along with performance, metadata
and stability enhancements.
Version 1.3, released on November 18, 2009, added support for several new Sony Ericsson cellular (mobile) telephones and Microsoft
's then-new Windows 7 operating system; download enhancements, advanced encoding options and a new photo reel view. Additionally, Media Go added support for digital comics and media playlists, also allowing PlayStation Portable system software
updates/upgrades, digital copies of (unprotected) DVDs
or BDs
to be transferred from Media Go to a PSP
Version 1.4, released on April 22, 2010, included several new enhancements such as adding support for new Sony Ericsson cellular (mobile) telephones (specifically, the Vivaz Pro/Kanna ("U8i"), Vivaz/Kurara ("U5i")
, Elm/Elm Greenheart ("J10")
, Hazel/Hazel Greenheart ("J20i") and Xperia X10 ("Xperia SO-01B")
), the ability to download game extras and themes. Other changes included new icons and categories, enabling users to organise their library better. One of the biggest new features in the 1.4 release however, was the ability to purchase and download content from the PlayStation Store without a PSP connected to the host computer
, queued downloads and the ability to playback standard definition video purchased from the PlayStation Store on the computer
.
Version 1.5, released on June 28, 2010, added support for a few new devices from Sony Ericsson: the Xperia X10 mini ("E10i")
, Xperia X10 mini Pro ("U20i") and Zylo. It also added the ability to playback videos purchased from the PlayStation Store as they download, and the ability to queue multiple items for download including PSP updates/upgrades, podcasts and other media purchased from the PlayStation Store; playlists already on the PSP can now be transferred to Media Go too.
Version 1.5a, released on August 25, 2010, was a maintenance release with two areas of focus: improved support for the transfer of playlists containing Unicode (UTF-8) characters to Android-based Sony Ericsson cellular (mobile) telephones, and installer improvements for both Media Go and its companion components (including the PlayStation Network Downloader).
Version 1.6, released November 23, 2010, added support for creating customized user-media searches, which can be saved as library views. New photo features include crop, color adjust, red-eye fix, and export for easy sharing via e-mail or the Web. It also automatically retrieves album, artist, and artwork information from the Gracenote MusicID online service.
Version 1.7, released April 12, 2011, added support for Sony Ericsson Xperia arc
, Xperia Play
and Xperia neo
devices. Improved device support for devices that play only audio. General improvements for better performance and faster response.
Version 1.8, released August 2, 2011, added Qriocity Video support for Sony Ericsson Xperia phones, and general-purpose support for Walkman A860, S760, and E460 series devices.
Version 2.0, released October 11, 2011, includes a revamped the user interface, support for Sony Tablet
, and an automated media backup/synchronization system. Additionally, general device support for the following family of Sony Ericsson handsets include: Xperia active, Live with Walkman, Live with Walkman, Xperia Play, Mix Walkman, Xperia ray.
Video player (software)
A video player is a kind of media player for playing back digital video data from media such as optical discs , as well as from files of appropriate formats such as MPEG, AVI, RealVideo, and QuickTime....
and audio
Audio player (software)
An audio player is a kind of media player for playing back digital audio, including optical discs such as CDs, SACDs, DVD-Audio, HDCD, audio files and streaming audio....
player developed by Sony Creative Software
Sony Creative Software
Sony Creative Software is a subsidiary of Sony, focused primarily on their line of media production software...
, announced at E3 2009 for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. Media Go manages content on Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
family products such as Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB is a joint venture established on October 1, 2001 by the Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson to manufacture mobile phones....
cellular (mobile) telephones and the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
; it can also playback multimedia content, serving a function similar to that of Apple's iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
. Media Go can access the PlayStation Store, Sony Ericsson's PlayNow
PlayNow
PlayNow is Sony Ericsson's download service for media including music, games, ringtones, wallpapers and themes. It was introduced in February 2004 as a way for owners of SE phones to listen to and directly purchase ringtones. It was rolled out into 32 countries....
Arena and in some cases, third-party online stores (such as BigPond Music, for Telstra
Telstra
Telstra Corporation Limited is an Australian telecommunications and media company, building and operating telecommunications networks and marketing voice, mobile, internet access and pay television products and services....
customers), while serving as a replacement for the Sony Creative Software "Media Manager
PSP Media Manager
Media Manager for PSP is a commercial application from Sony Creative Software that managed content on the PlayStation Portable, serving a similar function to that of iTunes for a personal computer...
" applications, used by the PlayStation Portable, Sony Ericsson and Walkman products in the past.
Features
Media Go can automatically synchronize various types of content to a compatible device. Depending on the device in use, this can be pictures, music, videos, audio (including audio-books), playlists, games, digital comics and podcasts. Advanced functionality allows music to be tagged with SensMeSensMe
SensMe is a proprietary music mood and tempo detection system created by Sony Corporation, and employed in numerous Sony branded products, most notably the Walkman MP3/MP4 players , Media Go, PlayStation Portable, and Sony Ericsson phone series, .-Technical specifications:SensMe works by mapping...
metadata
Metadata
The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
, and support for track ratings and purchases that can be made from the PlayStation Store
PlayStation Store
The PlayStation Store is an online virtual market available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable game consoles via the PlayStation Network. The Store offers a range of downloadable content both for purchase and available free of charge. Available content includes full games,...
, Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB is a joint venture established on October 1, 2001 by the Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson to manufacture mobile phones....
's PlayNow
PlayNow
PlayNow is Sony Ericsson's download service for media including music, games, ringtones, wallpapers and themes. It was introduced in February 2004 as a way for owners of SE phones to listen to and directly purchase ringtones. It was rolled out into 32 countries....
Arena or select partner stores (such as BigPond Music, for Telstra
Telstra
Telstra Corporation Limited is an Australian telecommunications and media company, building and operating telecommunications networks and marketing voice, mobile, internet access and pay television products and services....
customers). Where applicable, Media Go will also automatically download and/or convert certain content (e.g. a podcast) into a suitable format. Media Go can also purchase, backup, and restore PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
(PSP) games and other content, including digital comics; the ability to shop for and purchase PSP content from the PlayStation Store without a PSP connected to the host computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
is now supported in current versions of Media Go.
Like most similar products, Media Go is also able to "rip" music from a CD and automatically download missing metadata
Metadata
The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
(album artwork in particular) via Gracenote
Gracenote
Gracenote, Inc., formerly called CDDB , is a company that maintains and licenses an Internet-accessible database containing information about the contents of audio compact discs and vinyl records. It provides software and metadata to businesses that enable their customers to manage and search...
. , Media Go cannot "rip" video from a commercial DVD
DVD-Video
DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs, and is currently the dominant consumer video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and a MPEG-2 decoder...
or BD
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
. Media Go also provides "drag from" behaviour: most multimedia files that are displayed can be dragged from the Media Go application to a Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer
This article is about the Windows file system browser. For the similarly named web browser, see Internet ExplorerWindows Explorer is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface...
folder, an e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
message or browser drop target. Like most competing programs though, one of Media Go's primary functions is as a computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
multimedia organizer and player/jukebox, with a choice of large or compact/mini interface modes; Media Go also acts as a fully functional picture manager, similar to Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
.
While not supported officially, Media Go can also be used to manage media on many third-party devices including most cellular (mobile) telephones and USB-based multimedia playback devices - as third-party devices are not supported officially however, some content (such as videos) may not convert to a suitable format.
Version history
Version 1.0, released in Spring, 2009, supported many popular Sony EricssonSony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB is a joint venture established on October 1, 2001 by the Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson to manufacture mobile phones....
cellular (mobile) telephone models of the time.
Version 1.1, released on June 2, 2009, added support for, and worked with all PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
(PSP) models. New to Media Go was also the ability to integrate with Sony Computer Entertainment's
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
PlayStation Store, Sony Ericsson's PlayNow
PlayNow
PlayNow is Sony Ericsson's download service for media including music, games, ringtones, wallpapers and themes. It was introduced in February 2004 as a way for owners of SE phones to listen to and directly purchase ringtones. It was rolled out into 32 countries....
Arena and in some cases, third-party stores (such as BigPond Music, for Telstra
Telstra
Telstra Corporation Limited is an Australian telecommunications and media company, building and operating telecommunications networks and marketing voice, mobile, internet access and pay television products and services....
customers); the content and any supported third-party stores varies from country-to-country, however.
Version 1.1a, released on July 29, 2009, included several bug and stability fixes.
Version 1.2, released on October 1, 2009, added support for the PSP Go
PSP Go
The PSP Go is a version of the PlayStation Portable handheld game console manufactured by Sony. It was released on October 1, 2009 in American and European territories, and on November 1 in Japan. It was revealed prior to E3 2009 through Sony's Qore VOD service...
and additional Sony Ericsson cellular (mobile) telephone models, along with performance, metadata
Metadata
The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
and stability enhancements.
Version 1.3, released on November 18, 2009, added support for several new Sony Ericsson cellular (mobile) telephones and Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's then-new Windows 7 operating system; download enhancements, advanced encoding options and a new photo reel view. Additionally, Media Go added support for digital comics and media playlists, also allowing PlayStation Portable system software
PlayStation Portable system software
PlayStation Portable System Software is the official, updatable firmware for the PlayStation Portable. Updates add new functionality as well as security patches to prevent homebrew applications and plugins being run on the system. Updates can be obtained in four ways:*Direct download to the PSP...
updates/upgrades, digital copies of (unprotected) DVDs
DVD-Video
DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs, and is currently the dominant consumer video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and a MPEG-2 decoder...
or BDs
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
to be transferred from Media Go to a PSP
Version 1.4, released on April 22, 2010, included several new enhancements such as adding support for new Sony Ericsson cellular (mobile) telephones (specifically, the Vivaz Pro/Kanna ("U8i"), Vivaz/Kurara ("U5i")
Sony Ericsson Vivaz
The Sony Ericsson Vivaz is a smartphone, announced by Sony Ericsson on 21 January 2010. It was released on 5 March 2010 in the color schemes Moon Silver, Cosmic Black, Galaxy Blue and Venus Ruby....
, Elm/Elm Greenheart ("J10")
Sony Ericsson Elm
The Sony Ericsson Elm is a cell phone released in 2010.The phone is one of Sony Ericsson's earliest "Greenheart" environmentally friendly range, featuring devices made of recycled materials, longer battery life and low-energy chargers, as well as minimal use of paper through reduced packaging and...
, Hazel/Hazel Greenheart ("J20i") and Xperia X10 ("Xperia SO-01B")
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is a smartphone in the Xperia series designed by Sony Ericsson. It is the first Sony Ericsson smartphone to utilize the Android operating system. The phone was shipped with Android 1.6, but an upgrade to 2.1 was made available starting October 31, 2010, with a gradual...
), the ability to download game extras and themes. Other changes included new icons and categories, enabling users to organise their library better. One of the biggest new features in the 1.4 release however, was the ability to purchase and download content from the PlayStation Store without a PSP connected to the host computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
, queued downloads and the ability to playback standard definition video purchased from the PlayStation Store on the computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
.
Version 1.5, released on June 28, 2010, added support for a few new devices from Sony Ericsson: the Xperia X10 mini ("E10i")
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 Mini is a smartphone by Sony Ericsson in the Xperia series. It is the second Sony Ericsson smartphone to run the Android operating system and also the smallest Android handset to date....
, Xperia X10 mini Pro ("U20i") and Zylo. It also added the ability to playback videos purchased from the PlayStation Store as they download, and the ability to queue multiple items for download including PSP updates/upgrades, podcasts and other media purchased from the PlayStation Store; playlists already on the PSP can now be transferred to Media Go too.
Version 1.5a, released on August 25, 2010, was a maintenance release with two areas of focus: improved support for the transfer of playlists containing Unicode (UTF-8) characters to Android-based Sony Ericsson cellular (mobile) telephones, and installer improvements for both Media Go and its companion components (including the PlayStation Network Downloader).
Version 1.6, released November 23, 2010, added support for creating customized user-media searches, which can be saved as library views. New photo features include crop, color adjust, red-eye fix, and export for easy sharing via e-mail or the Web. It also automatically retrieves album, artist, and artwork information from the Gracenote MusicID online service.
Version 1.7, released April 12, 2011, added support for Sony Ericsson Xperia arc
Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc
The Sony Ericsson Xperia arc is an Android smartphone from Sony Ericsson. It was launched on April 1st, 2011 in Europe. The Xperia arc has a touch-screen, the mobile BRAVIA engine which optimises the picture and runs at a resolution of 854×480 pixels, a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor,...
, Xperia Play
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, codenamed Zeus, is a handheld game console smartphone produced by Sony Ericsson. Under the Xperia smartphone brand running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the device is the first device to be part of the PlayStation Certified program which means that it can play PlayStation...
and Xperia neo
Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo
Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo is an Android smartphone by Sony Ericsson that supersedes the Sony Ericsson Vivaz. It was launched in early 2011.- Hardware :...
devices. Improved device support for devices that play only audio. General improvements for better performance and faster response.
Version 1.8, released August 2, 2011, added Qriocity Video support for Sony Ericsson Xperia phones, and general-purpose support for Walkman A860, S760, and E460 series devices.
Version 2.0, released October 11, 2011, includes a revamped the user interface, support for Sony Tablet
Sony Tablet
Sony Tablet is the brand name of a series of tablet computers which run Google's operating system Android 3.1 Honeycomb. They were informally announced on 26 April 2011, using the code names, by the Sony Corporation in the Sony IT Mobile Meeting...
, and an automated media backup/synchronization system. Additionally, general device support for the following family of Sony Ericsson handsets include: Xperia active, Live with Walkman, Live with Walkman, Xperia Play, Mix Walkman, Xperia ray.